Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Desmond M. Clarke

Sets out the historical, theological, and philosophical contexts of these key texts

Essential reading for anyone working on culture and religion in the early modern period

The Equality of the Sexes

Three Feminist Texts of the Seventeenth Century

Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Desmond M. Clarke

Description

Desmond M. Clarke presents new translations of three of the first feminist tracts to support explicitly the equality of the sexes. The alleged inferiority of women's nature and the corresponding roles that women were (in)capable of exercising in society was debated in Western culture from the civilization of ancient Greece to the establishment of early Christian churches. There had also been some proponents of women's superiority (in comparison with men) prior to the early modern period. In contrast with both of these claims, the seventeenth century witnessed the first publications that argued for the equality of men and women. Among the most articulate and original defenders of that view were Marie le Jars de Gournay, Anna Maria van Schurman, and Francois Poulain de
la Barre. Gournay published The Equality of Men and Women in Paris in 1622, while one of her Dutch correspondents, Van Schurman, published in Latin her Dissertation in support of women's education in 1641. Poulain wrote a radical Physical and Moral Discourse concerning the Equality of Both Sexes in 1673, which he also published in Paris. These three feminist tracts transformed the language and conceptual framework in which questions about women's equality or otherwise were subsequently discussed. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, anonymous plagiarized editions and pirated translations of Poulain's work appeared in English, as 'vindications' of the rights of women. This edition includes new translations, from French and Latin, of these three key texts, and excerpts from the
authors' related writings, together with an extensive introduction to the religious and philosophical context within which they argued against the traditional view of women's natural inferiority to men.

The Equality of the Sexes

Three Feminist Texts of the Seventeenth Century

Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Desmond M. Clarke

Table of Contents

AcknowledgementsNote on the Texts and TranslationsIntroductionMarie le Jars de Gournay The Equality of Men and WomenThe Ladies' ComplaintAnna Maria van Schurman A Dissertation on the Natural Capacity of Women for Study and LearningExcerpts from other writingsCorrespondenceEukleriaFrancois Poulain de la Barre A Physical and Moral Discourse concerning the Equality of Both SexesExcerpts from The Education of LadiesFurther ReadingIndex

The Equality of the Sexes

Three Feminist Texts of the Seventeenth Century

Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Desmond M. Clarke

Author Information

Desmond M. Clarke is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the National University of Ireland, Cork. He was awarded a D.Litt from the National University of Ireland, was a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute and a Fulbright Scholar, and is a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He is the author of a number of books on seventeenth-century philosophy, and has also translated texts of the same period from Latin and French, including Descartes and Louis de la Forge.

The Equality of the Sexes

Three Feminist Texts of the Seventeenth Century

Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Desmond M. Clarke

Reviews and Awards

"Clarke's volume...is fit to serve as the authoritative English translation of these works for our field."--Marcy P. Lascano, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews